


Old

by Jessa



Series: HM Server Prompt Fills [17]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Blood (mention), Canon-Typical Violence, First Meetings, Immortality, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Mortality, Multi, Prompt Fill, Sad Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:55:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28805427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessa/pseuds/Jessa
Summary: Inspired by the opening of The Old Guard. Magnus meets Alec and Jace, but he’s wary and protective of his heart.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Series: HM Server Prompt Fills [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850245
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Old

**Author's Note:**

> For the emoji game, in response to these emojis:   
> 

“I’ve been here before.” Magnus says it to no one. “Over and over again… And each time I ask the same question.” 

He says it no one but someone is listening. Two people actually. Two people are listening. Two Shadowhunters.

“What do you ask?” the taller one says. The one with the dark curls of hair. The one who is running his Parabatai’s throwing knife across the plane of his whetstone again.

“Who do you ask?” the blond one says, waiting for his Parabatai to finish cleaning his blade.

Magnus’ eyes stop at their boots. Very purposefully, they stop there. Magnus knows that looking higher than boots leads to heartache and he’s already looked high enough to know too many details about what exactly here would make his heart ache. He’s old but he’ll never die like they will. So it’s easier just not to look too hard. Or high. What he doesn’t fall in love with can’t hurt him. Can it? He sighs. “I ask myself if this is it.” 

Once again, he says the words to no one. Certainly not to the pair of Shadowhunters, just to their boots. Inanimate objects don’t have hearts, they’re not things one can fall in love with. Surely that’s what kinks are for. Right? 

“I ask myself if this will be the last time.” 

Magnus listens to the echo of his words. Listens to the pathetically hollow way they ring out here in the empty laneway, against the steady background sound of the blade on the stone as the taller Shadowhunter keeps on honing his Parabatai’s weapon. 

Magnus doesn't know why he’s still talking. Probably for the same reason he began to in the first place, the reason he won’t look higher than their boots. There's just something about the people they belong to, that’s all, simple. Right? Something that is making him pour his heart out to them. 

“And each time,” Magnus continues, “I arrive at the same answer.”

One of the pairs of boots shifts. Taps at the toes and then steps along the dirty concrete towards where he’s crouched, over the stains of ichor from demons. Over the blood of the rogues the three of them just teamed up to slay. 

“I’m just so tired of it. Living to kill things. What are we really keeping at bay?”

Leathered thighs creak as they sit down beside him. A seraph blade is thrown down at the toes of the boots those thighs belong to. On his other side, a bow slides into his field of vision as a pair of leathered shins let the weapon take a rest there.

Nobody speaks. The three of them just pause there, recovering, none of them with any idea of how to answer that question. Perhaps it doesn’t really need an answer. But secretly Magnus hopes it gets one. Secretly he hopes it gets two.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading 💙💙💙


End file.
